World AIDS Day

Today, as we commemorate the 20th anniversary of World AIDS Day, we pay tribute to the leaders in communities and nations who have promoted greater awareness and action to address the AIDS pandemic. If there is one lesson learned over the years, it is that success in responding to the HIV epidemic requires sustained leadership, community engagement and the involvement of people living with HIV.

During the past two decades, progress has been made in delivering prevention and treatment services, and reducing the stigma and discrimination faced by people living with HIV. However, much more needs to be done to keep the promises that have been made.

Together we can achieve greater progress by integrating HIV and reproductive health services. This is important everywhere, but is absolutely vital in communities with high rates of HIV infection where women are disproportionately affected. It makes sense for women and couples to receive services for HIV testing, prevention, counselling and treatment at the same time as they receive information and services for maternal health and family planning. These reproductive health services protect the health of women, men and infants and ensure that individuals can make informed decisions.

UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, works with partners in countries to link sexual and reproductive health and HIV policies and programmes. We focus on HIV prevention and human rights, with a special emphasis on women and young people. Even though young people account for nearly half of all new HIV infections, they still lack accurate information on how to protect themselves. More needs to be done to reach out to youth as partners in prevention.

Today, on World AIDS Day, UNFPA joins others in calling for intensified action to achieve universal access to prevention, treatment, care and support by 2010, as world leaders agreed. We also call for greater action to realize a mutually reinforcing goal—universal access to reproductive health by 2015.